Where Evil Grows
by ardhrianna
Summary: Ryou isn't who he wants to be. But who has he become?


SUMMARY: Ryou isn't who he wants to be. But who has he become?  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. I wish I did, however, only in my dreams will I own Yami Bakura. And Kaiba. And Malik. And maybe even Yami. Hey, a girl can dream.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Title taken from a Terry Jacks song.  
  
//blah// is Yami Bakura talking to Ryou. /blah/ is Ryou talking to Yami Bakura.  
  
DEDICATION: Kris, as always.  
  
****  
  
WHERE EVIL GROWS  
  
Ryou Bakura stared down at his hands. Small hands. White hands, the colour of purity.  
  
Too bad the colour of his hands didn't match the colour of his soul.  
  
"Why?" he whispered to the mirror before him, wishing against all wishes that the mirror had the answers he sought. But the mirror was silent, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts.  
  
//But you're never alone, yadonushi,// came the intrusion from the back of his mind and Ryou sighed. //You will never be alone.//  
  
/I can dream, can't I?/ Ryou couldn't help the bitter thought that escaped.  
  
There was silence from his yami as the spirit pondered his words. //But why would you want to be rid of me?//  
  
/If I have to answer that, then there's really no point./ Ryou forcefully cut off the link, something he had never done before. He just hoped he wouldn't pay in blood for it later.  
  
****  
  
Ryou stood before the mirror again, studying his reflection. His own eyes, his own hair, his own nose, his own mouth. But then he blinked and his hair changed, becoming just a little bit wilder. His eyes became a bit more slanted, a bit more cruel. His mouth sneered. Gone was every trace of Ryou Bakura, leaving only the yami behind.  
  
When he blinked a second time, only Ryou stared back at him.  
  
/I don't understand this./ Ryou sent to his yami in frustration. /We are two separate people! So why is it that when I look in the mirror, I only see you?/  
  
//Are we really two separate people?// Yami Bakura didn't sound sarcastic for once. //Maybe we're more alike than you thought.//  
  
/I'm NOTHING like you!/  
  
****  
  
Dueling with Yugi a week later. The smaller boy had forbidden his own yami from getting involved, wanting to play Ryou on his own. Even Yami Bakura was quiet, choosing to watch the world out of his other half's eyes. For once, Ryou didn't mind. Yami Bakura's presence in the back of his mind was almost comforting.  
  
"I play the Dark Magician in attack mode!" Yugi exclaimed almost gleefully, playing his favourite monster. "And I destroy your face-down card."  
  
Ryou smiled and moved his monster from the field to the graveyard. "Just be thankful it wasn't a Morphing Jar."  
  
Yugi shivered. "I hate that card."  
  
Ryou laughed softly and drew his card, eyes widening when he saw what it was. What was his yami's card doing in his deck?  
  
//Play the Change of Heart,// Yami Bakura broke in. //Take control of his Dark Magician. Win the duel!//  
  
/He's my friend!/  
  
//Friends mean nothing, Ryou. They will only hold you back.//  
  
Ryou had to marvel at his yami's use of his proper name. It didn't happen very often. /I'm not like you, Nakhti. I need my friends./  
  
//Relying on other people makes you weak, yadonushi.// With that last piece of advice, Yami Bakura retreated into his soul room, leaving Ryou alone for the time being. Half-noticing Yugi's puzzled glance across the table, Ryou smiled in what he hoped was a comforting manner. Sighing, the white-haired boy looked at the cards in his hand and played one face-up.  
  
Change of Heart.  
  
****  
  
//Why do you fight who you are, Ryou?//  
  
/Because. this isn't who I am, Nakhti. I can't be like this./  
  
****  
  
"Ryou?" Yugi's voice, soft and sad, from somewhere behind him. "Are you alright?"  
  
"I'm fine." Ryou tried to sound convincing, staring into the depths of the bathroom mirror. "I am."  
  
"Is. is your Yami hurting you?"  
  
Ryou smiled wryly. Not in the way you're thinking, Yugi. "No, Yami Bakura isn't hurting me. I promise." Ryou turned to face the shorter boy, pulling up the sleeve of his uniform to show his unmarked arms. "See? No bruises, no scars."  
  
"There are other ways to hurt people, Ryou," Yami Yugi said, taking over his lighter half's body abruptly. "You know that as well as I do."  
  
"Yami Yugi, I swear to you, I'm fine." Ryou turned back to the mirror, studying the slanted eyes that stared back at him. Reflected in the mirror, Yami Yugi didn't look convinced. "Look, if he's bothering me, I'll let you know. But I'm telling you I'm fine, so leave it at that, okay? If you really WERE my friend and concerned about me, you'd trust me and leave me alone!"  
  
Ignoring Yami's gasp of surprise at his cold words, Ryou turned and left the bathroom.  
  
****  
  
Late that night, Ryou sat on his bed, holding the Millennium Ring in his hands. Thoughts raced through his mind - memories of the things he'd done; the words he'd said. Finally, Ryou set the Ring down in front of him and retreated into his mind.  
  
/Nakhti?/  
  
//What, yadonushi?//  
  
/Come out of the Ring for a few minutes./  
  
//Why?//  
  
/I need to talk to you./  
  
The Ring glowed softly for a moment and then Yami Bakura sat across from his other half, studying the boy intently. "What was so important that you had to drag me out of the Ring?"  
  
Ryou looked away from his yami's penetrating gaze. "Why am I feeling like this?"  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Like I don't know who I am anymore. I look at myself in the mirror and I see someone else. Someone I don't like."  
  
"You wouldn't be talking about me, would you?"  
  
Ryou smiled sadly. "Sometimes I see you, but most of the time, I see somebody that I don't recognize at all. Somebody who isn't afraid to hurt his friends. Somebody who doesn't rely on anyone else. Somebody. evil."  
  
"Sounds like me."  
  
Ryou studied the eyes of his dark, so like his own, and he felt something inside him reach out, finding it's twin in the nearly-identical boy across from him. Two sets of slanted eyes, two heads of messy white hair, two spirits more alike than they'd care to admit.  
  
"I don't want to become like you, Nakhti."  
  
Yami Bakura stared back at him, an unfamiliar emotion in the depths of his dark eyes. "I think it's too late, Ryou."  
  
****  
  
"yadonushi" is Japanese for "King's property" which is what Yami Bakura calls Ryou in the manga, I believe. 


End file.
